324 ACUTE GENERAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



fluid exudes, which later dries, leaving a brown scab. The 

 swellings terminate abruptly ("tied off") in the head a short 

 distance below the eyes and in the limbs at the elbow and stifle. 



As long as the lumen of the nasal cavities and larynx is not 

 encroached upon by swellings the respirations are not in- 

 creased. From swelling, especially of the false nostrils and 

 turbinates, dyspnea develops. If a hemorrhagic or inflamma- 

 tory infiltration of the larynx appear, pronounced inspiratory 

 and expiratory dyspnea with stertorous laryngeal sound (see 

 Glottis Edema) follows. 



The leg swellings are painful, and mechanically interfere 

 with locomotion and getting up and down. Usually the 

 patients remain standing unless greatly fatigued or the attack 

 mild. 



From swelling of the head mastication is difficult or im- 

 possible. If the pharynx is involved, blood-tinged saliva 

 drools from the mouth and regurgitation through the nostrils 

 is noted. Food is sometimes retained between the teeth and 

 cheeks, where it decomposes and emits a fetid odor. The 

 appetite is good in the earlier stages and may be retained 

 throughout mild attacks. If hemorrhagic or inflammatory 

 infiltration of the gastro-intestinal tract occur, colic symptoms 

 follow. The feces are sometimes blood-stained, and diarrhea 

 may set in as a symptom of some complication (septicemia). 



The temperature is usually only slightly elevated and may 

 remain practically normal throughout the course of the dis- 

 ease, provided no complications occur. If complications exist, 

 or the disease which preceded the attack of purpura was a 

 feverish one and still to a degree persist, the temperature is 

 elevated. Purpura and the disease from which it develops 

 may occur concomitantly in the same patient. 



In the early stages the pulse remains about normal. As a 

 rule it rarely goes beyond 50 to 60. If it exceed 80, compli- 

 cations are present. 



Complications. — (a) Gangrene of the skin with sloughing 

 is not an uncommon complication. The process of healing is 

 slow (sometimes twp or three months), and frequently un- 

 sightly scars are left behind, greatly reducing the market 

 value of the horse. 



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